The new service lets Uber customers hail an SUV instead of a regular car (which the company’s UberX service already offers) or a luxury sedan (UberBlack). The SUVs will seat up to six passengers, and you can use the company’s fare-split feature to divvy up the fees between the riders.

Sponsored by VB

Join us at GrowthBeat where thought leaders from the biggest brands will share winning growth strategies on August 17-18 in San Francisco. Sign up now!

The rates are a bit higher than the UberX service, with an extra $2 charged for the base fare ($6 versus the usual $4 for UberX), a higher per-minute fee, and a per-mile fee of $2.15 instead of $1.50.

But UberXL is cheaper than the usual UberSUV service, which has a base far of $15 and a $3.75 per minute mileage fee.

That, of course, raises the question: If you can get an SUV ride so much cheaper with UberXL, why would anyone choose the pricier UberSUV?

And why does Uber have so many confusingly-named fare options, all of which have different prices and yet offer no particularly different features other than the appearance of the car’s exterior?

The company estimates a cross-town ride from the Panhandle of Golden Gate Park to the Mission district with UberXL will cost about $17.

UberXL is already available in Sydney, Singapore, and Boston.

More information:

Uber Technologies Inc is known as Everyone's Private Driver. Uber operates an on-demand car service used all over the world. With the touch of a button from your phone, you can experience your own private driver. Sign-up quickly, get p... read more »